The Yellow Brick Road leads to San Fransisco
by Mollzy
Summary: AU Post-Chosen Oz settles down in San Fransisco to try and figure out what he's supposed to be doing. He runs into a not-so-familiar face in a similar position. NOT OZ x KENNEDY
1. Chapter 1

**_Authors Note: A story written by me (Mollzy) and my sister. _**

**_Summary: AU Post Chosen Oz settles down in San Fransisco to try and figure out what he's supposed to be doing. He runs into a not-so-familiar face in a similar position._**

The fresh aroma of newly ground coffee filled the small café in San Francisco, California. Being reminded all to much of his college days in Sunnydale, Oz set down his mug and turned towards the TV newscast.

"2005. Today marks the 2 year anniversary of the mysterious collapse of Sunnydale, California. Even after all this time people are still searching for lost relatives and loved ones, now presumed dead."

Oz turned away with a smirk. "Good ol' Sunnydale," he mumbled to himself, "Always knew it'd go out with a bang."

"Tell me about it. Ever been?" A tall black haired girl in her mid-twenties asked conversationally. She slid into the chair beside him without asking.

"Lived there, I'm Oz." he took a sip of his coffee and regarded her silently.

"Kennedy," she replied, "I was lucky enough to see it through to the end. Pretty much moved there days before it happened. Crazy stuff, huh?"

"You could say that."

"You wouldn't believe the… myths I've heard about that town. Vampires, demons, even the occasional apocalypse." Kennedy smiled at him mischievously, laughing at her own joke.

"Explains a lot," Oz replied casually. Kennedy stared him down suspiciously.

"You don't believe it do you? I mean vampires, monsters, maybe an occasional slayer." Oz, slightly shocked, raised his eyebrows.

"Slayer, huh? Interesting choice of words."

"How interesting?" she retorted, crossing her arms.

"Know any?" he questioned.

"So you do think it's real." Kennedy responded.

"I only know what I've seen," he laughed, "I knew this great girl, Buffy, she was big on the myths."

"You know Buffy!?" Kennedy said, a little too loud. She looked around quickly to see if she'd been heard.

"I could ask the same. You're looking at a retired Scooby."

"Scooby? She asked, "Like the dog?" He laughed at her confused expression.

"Just something Xander came up with. The highschool gang, him, me, Buffy, Giles, Cordy, and Will." He smiled at the memory.

"Willow? You knew her? She's the reason I left. We just broke up. My fault really, but that's all in the past."

"Small world. I dated her too! I mean before she was gay." They looked at each other a moment before laughing.

"So watcha doing here in San Fran?" Kennedy asked curiously.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. For now it's just me and my guitar. Speaking of which, I'm up now." He stood and made his way towards the stage as the sun began to set.

"Wait a sec," Kennedy said, "call me sometime. It's nice to have a friend in town." She scrawled a number on a napkin, handing it to him. He just smiled and climbed up onto the stage. He had a passion for music. Oz thought he had moved on from his 3-chord band days. He actually felt he sounded good, not great, but good enough.

The doors swung open, sending the little bell into a frenzy. An immediate chill ran over both Oz and Kennedy as the dark man sat down. He looked frustrated and upset and well, completely dead. Vampire. Oz had seen (and smelled) enough of them to know. Even so, when he jumped off stage after his song, Kennedy felt the need to inform him of this. Before they could approach him he stormed away, seeming fidgety, slamming the glass doors behind him. Kennedy ran after him without a word, Oz right behind her.

"Do you know what your doing?" Oz questioned.

"Know what I'm doing?" Kennedy scoffed, "I was born to do this. You may be a retired Scooby, but I'm a slayer." Oz stopped in his tracks.

"Wait… but for a slayer to be called, one has to die."

"Not anymore. You're livin' old school man. This isn't the 90s. There are thousands of us now." With a shrug, he continued following her. Before long they reached the cemetery and cautiously entered. They could see the vampire pacing by a crumbling gravestone.

"I know what you are," Kennedy said fiercely, pulling a stake out of her sleeve.

"What's that?" he scoffed, near tears, "A failure, loser? Letdown works too. "

"I was thinking vampire, but I'm pretty sure your both." Kennedy stated snidely.

"What happened to you, man?" Oz asked at the same time.

"As if I could even call myself a vampire," the vampire blubbered. "My un-life sucks. Literally."

Kennedy looked at the vampire, dumbfounded.

"Can you stop the tears? It's making the staking thing a lot more… embarrassing."

"It can't be that bad." Oz consoled the vampire.

"What?! Are you…. Comforting him? Taking sides with the demon. He's a monster!" Kennedy asked in outrage.

"Monster is a kind of offensive term." He responded.

"What would you prefer, soulless demon, evil thing?"

"Undead American?" he threw in.

"Oh please. Like I need to be politically correct with the demon. I don't care if I 'offend' the monster. It's just that, a monster. We stake them, they die, the end."

"Well now I'm offended." Oz said almost jokingly. She stared in confusion, the vampire watching with renewed interest.

"Werewolf." He said.

"That's different you have a soul, you can be good. Go make nice-nice with all the other demons, I'm staking him." Kennedy said, advancing towards the depressed vampire.

"Just give me one minute." Oz requested. She sighed in agreement, rolling her eyes and dropping the stake. She walked away with a scowl on her face.

"You don't have to leave." Oz said, mildly surprised at her narrow-mindedness. She really didn't seem like Willow's type.

Kennedy looked back, "It's late, I'm tired, you can handle the staking." She walked away quietly.

"I call you tomorrow!" Oz yelled quickly, afraid of losing his only friend in town. Kennedy didn't respond.

"Who's she? Girlfriend?" the vampire sniffled, "I'm never gonna have a girlfriend. Everyone hates me!" At this he began to cry again. Oz looked around uncomfortably before awkwardly patting him on the back.

"She's not much into… men. We have a friend in common." The vampire looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

"I used to have friends… then I killed them! I feel so guilty."

"Guilty?" Oz asked, confused and a little alarmed. He sat down on the bench.

"Yeah, I know right! I guess this is my punishment. I didn't really want to but my sire insisted. I'm such a loser!"

"I thought vampires didn't feel remorse." Oz said blankly.

"See! I told you I'm a failure. I can't even make a decent vampire. The girls all think I've gone soft. The guys too for that matter!"

"This is a good thing. It doesn't mean you're a freak, just… special."

"Special is just a slang word for freak! I knew you though I was weird!" He burst into tears again. Oz began to wonder if he would ever stop crying.

"No, no, no." Oz said, "I knew a vampire once, who never wanted to hurt a soul. In fact, he tried to save the world. More than once."

"Really?" the vampire mumbled, " You're not just saying that?"

"Would I lie to you? You know demons just a word. It doesn't define who we are. If you work for it, you can help people, almost fit into that world."

"W-Would you help me?" he said, "You're a werewolf right? It's the full moon and you look normal. You seem to have this monster thing under control."

"I'm not going to lie, it's hard. But you can do it." Oz encouraged him.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Positive." Suddenly Oz understood. People weren't the only ones who needed saving.

_**Please Review!!! Next chapter will be posted soon! **_


	2. Chapter 2

Early the next morning, at 10AM, Oz rolled over on his bare mattress, jumping out of bed at the loud and persistent knocking at his door. He brushed his hand through his hair and took a sip of water before shuffling towards the sound.  
"About time!" Kennedy huffed when he finally opened the door. She let herself in while he looked at her bleary eyed and dazed.  
"How do you know where I live?" he asked sleepily.  
"Well you do go to that coffee shop a lot. People really know you there. The cashier said you lived down this street so I've been knocking on doors."  
"Cool… so are you like this every time you meet a new person?" he questioned.  
"Well you said you'd call today and I've already been up for four hours so I figured- you're still in your pajamas. Hmmm…. Not a morning person?"  
"Not really. You go up at six?" He asked incredulously.  
" Yeah. The early bird get's the worm after all."  
"Why would I want a worm?"  
"Figuratively," Kennedy replied, "besides training in the morning is good for your body and brain."  
"Well maybe you only need two hours of sleep but I need a minimum of nine. Since I'm up, do you want anything to drink?"  
"Nah. But I do think we should explore the city. If we're going to be here a while we should know where to patrol."  
"I'm patrolling now? Ehh, whatever. Just let me change." Minutes later, Oz returned to find Kennedy flipping through his papers and rummaging through his drawers.  
"You know, you have a lot of bills." She said bluntly.  
"I'm a musician." He replied. The two headed out to find the best and the worst of the city.  
"The sunlight changes everything." Oz observed.  
"Well you know, It's a lot friendlier when no one's trying to kill you."  
"True." He responded.

"What time do you wanna patrol tonight?" Kennedy asked.

"You know, I've been thinking a bit."

"About patrolling?" Kennedy asked curiously.

"Demons."

"Here let me help. Stake, heart, and die. It's pretty simple."

Oz stood silently for a moment and then began to speak, "I meant the demons we are killing, or will be. They're not all bad, right? I've met at least two good vampires in my life, and then there's me. Maybe all they need is help. Not all of them of course, but some are, or can be good."

Kennedy stared at him in shock saying, "Your first full speech and it's completely insane! We can't just pick and choose which demons are bad and good. We'll end up getting people killed!"

"It was just a thought." Oz figured there was no point in arguing. He could bring it up later.

"We're patrolling at nine." Kennedy said pointedly, obviously finished with the conversation. _Women always get the last word, _Oz thought to himself.

"You want to see the best mall in town?"

Oz stood coolly at the street corner. Kennedy was already 15 minutes late, but he was unconcerned. Rightly too, because she dashed up a few moments later.

"I know I'm late. Let's get going." They headed up and down the streets; they'd gotten a feel for the city during the day.

"So-" Oz began.

"Wait a minute," Kennedy interrupted, holding her hand out to stop him, "I hear something. Quiet." They crept silently into the alleyway and sure enough a figure was lurking in the darkness. The shadow raised its head to look at the pair. Out of the silence they heard a voice.

"Oz, my man! It's me, Dave! What's up!? You know I forgot to thank you, I'm doing so much better after last night." Oz smiled while Kennedy glared at them in disbelief.

"What happened to staking him?" she growled.

"I can't ignore a person who needs help." He said simply.

"He's not a person!" Kennedy yelled, "That's my whole point! We stake the vampires, in case you forgot!" Dave looked from one to the other, shrugged and headed down the city streets.

"I just think they deserve a chance. Didn't Buffy ever tell her students about Angel?" Oz replied calmly.

"Students?! I was just as good as her. I didn't and don't need a teacher. Besides, Angel had a soul. Dave doesn't."

"People change, Kennedy."

"They aren't people! They don't have souls and they don't have feelings!"

"I'm some kind of monster too, right? Do I not have feelings?" Oz asked.

"As far as I can tell." Kennedy huffed back "How would I know! I just met you."

"I thought we were getting to be friends."

"I'd love to be friends. But you don't listen and can't do anything anyone asks you. I finally get why Willow broke up with you." Kennedy glared at him with a smirk on her face and was thrown off by the anger that appeared on his.

"Don't bring Willow into this." Oz said in a cold voice.

"Why not," Kennedy retorted, "I'll do what I want!"

"I'm warning you. It'd be better for both of us if you didn't." He breathed deeply, trying to keep his cool.

"Heck, she went gay after dating you," Kennedy laughed cruelly, "did she even love you?"

Oz fell to the ground, groaning and clutching his stomach in pain.

"Stop being so dramatic, Oz." Kennedy said rolling her eyes and backing away. She laughed nervously and his hand began to change. She nearly screamed as the beads around his hands snapped, flying all over the alley. She vaguely remembered him mentioning they were important. Before her eyes, a terrifying beast appeared. Foaming at the mouth, angry bloodshot eyes focused solely on her. His tongue swept across his fangs as a growl emerged from his throat.

"Oz?" she squeaked, clutching her stake, "I'm sorry, look I guess I'm just upset. Willow broke up with me too. I didn't mean to make you mad." Oz roared, not registering her words, and dove towards her. _Thank God I'm a slayer!_ Kennedy thought as she dashed out of the alley. _Silver bullets, silver bullets, silver bullets! _She chanted to herself as she raced towards her apartment. She was barely able to stay ahead of Oz, tearing open the door, and breaking her lock. She pulled a crossbow out of her cabinet just as he pinned her to the ground. She struggle to get free, finally managing to push him away.

"Please Oz, please," she said in tears, her hands shaking, "I didn't mean what I said. I'm so so sorry! I owe you big time." He fell to the ground once more and rushed out of the apartment as he began to shrink and loose his fur. Kennedy dropped to the floor, silent tears running down her cheeks.

Oz stood at his sink repeatedly splashing water on his face and arms, constantly checking the mirror to see if he was still himself. After all he had worked for, he had still lost control. He could never really trust himself to be around people. Kennedy appeared in the mirror behind him, pointing a crossbow directly at his heart.

"Pretty sure this works on humans too. Don't you think?"

"Kennedy.... Can you do it?" Oz asked, without turning around.

"I'm sorry Oz, but this is my job." He turned around spreading his arms as wide as he could, standing tall and confidently, he closed his eyes and whispered,

"Take your best shot."

**Authors Note: So what'd you think??? Please Review! Chapter 3 will be up as soon as possible.** **~Mollzy and Julz**


	3. Chapter 3

**It's not my fault I promise! This chapters so late because my laptop broke and that's where we have all our stories saved! This isn't all of chapter 3 but it's at least a little snippet for you! sorry again! I would have put up a AN, but those have always bugged me so much that i figured it'd be hypocritical. See you again soon! ~Mollzy and Julz**

The deafening silence seemed to last for hours. Oz stood fearless, Kennedy bold but unsure of what to do. She slowly lowered her crossbow, but continued to stare.

"You're different. You're good."

"Good?" Oz laughed, he had tried to kill her. He lowered his arms and focused his gaze on her.

"Look I know Will as well as you do. She wouldn't date evil. Well there was that one time… never mind let's not get into that. I shouldn't have brought it up yesterday."

"Why am I the only monster who can be good?" Oz asked quietly. The more he thought about it the more he knew why he had been led to San Francisco, and the more crazy his idea seemed. There were a couple of buildings for sale in town. They weren't cheap, but he could probably scrape up some cash. He would definitely need her help though.

"I'm a slayer." Kennedy replied shortly.

"Kennedy, I need your help." Oz said suddenly.

"Way to get off topic…. What's wrong?" Oz led her to the couch, where they could sit more comfortably. He had no idea how to get her on board, but who else would help him open the first demon Self-Help center? He was calm enough for the unstable or depressed clients and she'd be great for the ones who were more… unsure about changing.

"You see there's lots of open buildings around town, but they're kind of expensive."

"You are not about to ask me for money." Kennedy scoffed.

"Sort of?" Oz mumbled, "Not much, and I'll pay you back every cent. As soon as I get some money." He said the last part under his breath, but she still heard.


	4. Chapter 4

_**I'm sorry! So so sorry! Please don't hate me! I know I've been bad about uploading to this story! Julz and I just can't find the time to write together so I'll be taking this one over by myself, (scary!). I know this is barely a sentance but I'm just kind of putting my foot back into the water to see how it goes. Enjoy and Review! : )**_

_**~Mollzy**_

Oz turned slowly, surveying the open room.

"Nice." he said simply. He stopped turning glancing at Kennedy, who was twirling the official-looking pen around in her hands.

"State of the art." The blonde-haired realtor responded with a plastic-looking smile, "It's our policy, we'll find you the best building in town, meet your needs to the T."

Kennedy scoffed and looked around the building again, scruntinizing it as if she was looking for a flaw.

"How much is this gonna cost me again?"

"Not much." Oz replied, glancing at the state-of-the-art, 'sun-proof' windows.

"Well sir, if you look here we can go over the details of the-"

"Cool." Oz said distractedly looking lost in his thoughts. Kennedy sighed. She already knew her neweset friend all too well.

"He's not to big on the talking thing. I'll handle this." Kennedy strode over to the woman, grabbing her clipboard and looking at the documents with a scowel on her face.

She grumbled hasseled the poor woman while Oz stared out the windows.

Things just might work out here, he thought.


End file.
